Sacred Spaces - Chico's Historic Churches

Sacred Spaces is intended to be an ongoing long-term project which will incorporate the formal and informal use of sacred space. The first chapter of the series Chico's Historic Churches focuses on historic buildings that are currently used for religious worship. These church histories are somewhat convoluted and, in some cases, intertwined. Some buildings have shared land use, as several of these buildings have relocated to where a previous church building stood. Some buildings are the result of combining congregations for financial reasons resulting in the construction of a new structure. One is the result of rebuilding due to fire, and another is a journey back to original use. What they have in common is John Bidwell, who played a major role in establishing the early churches of Chico, either by donating land and or monies or by refusing to do so, as was the case with St. John the Evangelist Episcopal (currently St. Augustine of Canterbury). Donations were withheld due to the use of real wine in Communion Services. This was a result of Annie Bidwell's influence in the Temperance Movement.